I am going to India in November for 4-5 months. By the time I go, I should be TEFL certified. While I am there, I would like to volunteer in order to get some experience. Ideally, I would like it to be with a school of some sort, so I can have a record of my experience and possibly earn a reference. Is this possible for someone with no college degree? I don't want to earn a wage or anything, I would enjoy the chance to get to experience how English is taught as a foreign language. I would be happy enough just sitting in a classroom watching and contributing where I can.

Does anyone know if what I am asking is possible? If so, what would be the best way to go about it? I will be in North Goa, Arambol specifically, for around 2-3 months, so I feel this would probably be the best place to do my volunteering. I also plan on doing paid lessons for tourists while there. Even if I only make a couple of hundred rupees a week, its still something and will give me much needed teaching experience.

I don't think this is likely to be wildly successful. The tourist workers (who hopefully have money and need for functional English) are highly likely to already have reasonable English language skills, and established outlets for study as needed. The tourists are on holiday. Other locals are unlikely to be interested or to have money to spend on this.

I mean, good luck - it's worth a shot if you're going to be there anyway, but I wouldn't count on finding much actual paid work, to be honest.

I don't think this is likely to be wildly successful. The tourist workers (who hopefully have money and need for functional English) are highly likely to already have reasonable English language skills, and established outlets for study as needed. The tourists are on holiday. Other locals are unlikely to be interested or to have money to spend on this.

I mean, good luck - it's worth a shot if you're going to be there anyway, but I wouldn't count on finding much actual paid work, to be honest.

Doing lessons for tourists is more of an extra. What I am more interested in, is doing volunteering for an organisation of sorts to get experience and make myself more employable. Ideally, this would be through a school.

Hello deano2727, It sounds like a great idea and lots of fun. I too was hoping to teach English in India but was discouraged when the NGO I wanted to work with informed me that it was illegal to work in India, even as a volunteer, without a work permit. I was told that they did not accept volunteers outside of India just because it was such a hassle for them to get a work permit from the government. That said, I was also told that many NGOs will turn a blind eye to the work permit requirement. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Please keep us updated once you get there in November. Good luck!!!

I don't know anything specifically about Goa, so this may not help much. But there are dozens of organizations who recruit or accept volunteers to teach English to the Tibetan refugee community in Dharamsala/McloudGanj in Himachel Pradesh in northern India. You can apply to an organization like LHA, Volunteer Tibet, or Tibet Charity; but you can also just show up and usually start work within days. There are dozens of places seeking volunteers, and someone who has a TEFL qualification and can stay a while will have no shortage of opportunities. In addition, the students tend to be serious and eager to learn.

In terms of legality and practicality it is far easier to do this sort of thing in almost any country other than India in the region.. The Indian bureaucracy has always been maddening. I know of people teaching in Nepal and Bangladesh, for example. I found it far easier to work for a school in Pakistan (when it was safe) than in India..